Oscar Pistorius had ordered six guns when girlfriend was shot

Oscar Pistorius was in the process of buying six guns at the time he shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, more than usually allowed under South African law, his murder trial heard.

Gun licenser Sean Rens testified that Pistorius had sound knowledge of gun laws, but also once entered full “combat mode” after mistaking a washing machine for an intruder.

When Steenkamp died on Valentine’s Day last year, the Paralympic champion had recently been invoiced for six guns including a Smith & Wesson 500, described by its manufacturer as the “most powerful production revolver in the world”.

Pistorius had also ordered a Vector .223-calibre rifle, a 38-calibre Smith & Wesson revolver and three shotguns: a Mossberg Maverick, a Winchester and a Carbine gun.

“The transaction was cancelled a month post-incident,” said Rens, manager of a firearms training academy in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg, as the athlete’s trial entered its third week.

South African law allows non-collectors to possess only four firearms.

Rens, whose job involves arranging gun sales, licensing and training, said Pistorius “had a great love and enthusiasm” for firearms and scored high on an examination intended to quiz gun owners on the lawful use of lethal weapons.

Licensing examination records confirm that the 27-year-old Pistorius knew the country’s gun laws well, the court heard.

He answered correctly that he could only shoot at a person if his life was directly threatened.

Asked in the test if he could fire at burglars stealing a television from his house, Pistorius wrote: “No. Life is not in danger.”

Pistorius says he shot dead his 29-year-old girlfriend through a locked toilet door after mistaking her for an intruder.

But the state has drawn on previous gun incidents to depict the athlete as rash and trigger-happy, in support of the charge of premeditated murder.

The sprinter faces three additional non-related charges over firing a gun in a restaurant and from a moving car, and for illegal possession of ammunition.

Rens met the Paralympic gold medallist in 2012 through a mutual friend. At the time, Pistorius owned a 9mm pistol and the pair visited a shooting range together around 10 times.

Despite good knowledge of gun laws, Rens said the athlete told him he once drew his gun inside his house at a suspicious noise, which turned out to be the washing machine. “He went into what we call ‘code red’, or combat mode, in other words to draw his gun and go and clear his house.”

Following Rens’ testimony, police photographer Bennie van Staden walked the court through pictures he took at the Paralympic gold medallist’s upmarket Pretoria home.

Van Staden’s 15 photo albums were detailed after damaging revelations concerning the credibility of the police investigation.

Defence lawyers argue police contaminated the scene after officers last week conceded to moving evidence, handling a gun without gloves and even stealing from Pistorius’s house. Van Staden said he moved the athlete’s duvet and bloodied towels in his bathroom to look for further evidence, and only after documenting their original position.

Images also showed damage to the bedroom door and a blood splatter on bedsheets and a bedroom wall, suggesting a possible tussle the night Steenkamp died.